Unleash Them: “Thunderchief” by Shotgun Sawyer, backcountry rock!

Editor’s Note: In “Unleash Them”, this is where you can find artists/bands that have reached out to me that really want to get their name out there. If we’re blown away, or see significant amounts of potential, we will tell our readers about them! I’m revamping this section of Madness To Creation to exclusively focus on local, regional, and unsigned artists. As the editor of Madness To Creation, this is where my heart is, is with the bands/artists that are willing to pay thousands of dollars for production of a record and top-notch gear in order to play $50 gigs at dive locations. In “Unleash Them”, you will get to read about the bio of the band, check out a song, plus a review of the band, and if they’re “Coming To You”, you get to see where they’re playing in an effort to support the scene. If our readers don’t get anything else out of this section, please get this part. Please support the local scene in your neck of the woods. Whether it’s a national touring band coming through or just a local show, heck it can even be the local cover band. Go support! I present to you in “Unleash Them” Shotgun Sawyer!

Out of Auburn, California is a three-piece band that is bound and determined to bring back the roots and Delta-blues style to the forefront once again. This band is known as Shotgun Sawyer. Shotgun Sawyer is composed of Dylan Jarman on guitars and vocals, Brett Sanders on bass, and David Lee on drums. Shotgun Sawyer have the desire to change the musical landscape one listener at a time with their boogie-woogie, gritty, grimy, and filthy blues-rock, with their release of “Thunderchief”. Fans can go listen to the album in its entirety at their Bandcamp page.

“Thunderchief” starts off with a track entitled “Skinwalker”. I’m picturing a band like Wolfmother, Jet, or The Vines deciding to try their hand after listening to some stoner-rock and some gritty Delta-blues and shake it up in Grandma’s mixing bowl of grits and you get Shotgun Sawyer once the recipe is whipped up. “Skinwalker” is chocked full of riffs, grooves, and rhythmic beats that causes head-nodding, toe-tapping, and something that the Delta-blues out in the Bayou of Louisiana will definitely adore and appreciate. “Skinwalker” suddenly goes into a track entitled “Sudden Death In The Flesh”. The guitar solo that is quite bluesy and grimy that Jarman provides combine with the gritty, toe-tapping rhythm section of Sanders on bass and Lee on drums is smooth, and as cool as the other side of the pillow. Jarman suddenly comes in like Trogdor burninating the peasants with ferocious guitar work during the instrumental break. Vocals are essential in this type of band. In my view, the vocals are what carries blues/roots-rock type of bands, they need to be gritty, grimy, and packed full of emotion. If that isn’t the case with this type of band, then this type of band unravels. In that case, Jarman’s vocals are the “Gorilla Glue” that keeps Shotgun Sawyer driving and moving, while causing listeners to move and connect with the bands through the emotions.

Along with the musicianship, Shotgun Sawyer tells the stories that are essential for a blues/roots-rock type of band. I envision friends getting together in back porches or in the garage, swigging moonshine, people coming together from all ages in unity, as Shotgun Sawyer shares stories of being in trouble with the law in “Lawman”, sharing war stories in “Soldier Song”, and sharing stories about the perils of the working man in “Gravedigger Dan”, as well as sharing injustices of capitalism in “That’s The Working Man”. “I’m A Bad Man” is comparable to a take on the song “Bad To The Bone” by George Thorogood, it is gritty as all get out, and it has such a crazy-good mid-tempo groove to it. Jarman does an impeccable job of utilizing the stories and his voice to evoke the emotions of the story.

Shotgun Sawyer is not at the forefront of the music scene, and that’s a crime against the music industry. This is another groundbreaking band that brings rock back to where it tells stories of the community and with Americana while making it extremely relevant for the listener of today. If you like a band that mixes Queens Of The Stone Age, Wolfmother, and Jet, with some backwoods/backcountry type of Delta-blues rock that will cause the listener to wrestle alligators in the Bayou, then look no further than Shotgun Sawyer. For these reasons, “Thunderchief” by Shotgun Sawyer gets a stellar 8.5/10 rating! Check out the track listing below!